Broken Stand
by Pseudotree
Summary: HAHAHA snicker-snicker Guffaw! Our dear narrator at Yuki’s place! Koizumi freaks out! Kyon groans in pain! Teeheehee Chuckle-Chuckle sob sob…


Pseudotree's fanfic.

Disclaimer –I do not own The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

Summary –HAHAHA snicker-snicker Guffaw! Our dear narrator at Yuki's place! Koizumi freaks out! Kyon groans in pain! Teeheehee Chuckle-Chuckle sob sob…

O

0

"…This isn't…" muttered the taller figure, shaking his head in disbelief even as he readjusted his load.

After a lengthy pause, the smaller of the two announced in monotone- "…Considering the present predicament at hand, we should be on our way." Dust, turn, walk. "Now."

The boy nodded in response and followed.

0

Broken Stand

"Just WHERE is he?!" shouted Haruhi as she slammed her hands on the table.

The other members of the infamous SOS Brigade turned towards their temperamental president.

"Um… I-I'm sure he'll be here soon, Suzumiya-san." replied Mikuru, fidgeting as she glanced apologetically at the booths around her.

It was nearly noon on a fine Sunday, in the food court of the local mini-mall that Haruhi picked. The eccentric girl decided to organize a meeting this weekend after a lengthy discussion (Basically, Haruhi rambling on and on about an article on yetis) during club hours went unfinished, which she wanted with passion to continue.

Needless to say, the currently missing Kyon wasn't pleased- especially after being told to bring the rather expensive and questionable magazines for additional references (Yeti meets Eisenhower issue 24-30).

Koizumi checked his watch in his usual, nonchalant way. "10:54. He _is_ running quite late…"

"Could he be sick?" Mikuru wondered out loud, concern starting to cross her features.

Haruhi shook her head. "I called that idiot earlier today to make _sure_ he doesn't forget. He didn't sound sick _at all!_ Damn that cranky and irritable…" She turned towards the girl sitting beside her. "Any ideas, Yuki?"

Nagato Yuki sipped her soda with a slurp.

Taking out his cell phone, Koizumi scrolled through the numbers and clicked. "I'll try calling him, then."

Haruhi beamed. "Good! He wasn't picking up the last five times _I_ tried."

This caused Koizumi to raise a brow. "He didn't?"

The phone stayed on his ear for a considerable length of time, and the group (minus Yuki) began to shift uncomfortably.

"…He's not picking up my calls, either…"

Beep bee-beep.

"…And no one seems to be at Kyon's place."

"That's it!" Haruhi exclaimed suddenly, jolting Mikuru back several inches. "We're forming a search party –everybody split!"

The glint in her eyes made it clear that she found her next topic of interest.

* * *

Koizumi and Yuki walked in silence as they did their part in the search. Forgoing the usual straw picks, Haruhi ran off with Mikuru to an opposite direction for one reason or another, although the Esper had the sneaking suspicion that their fearless leader did not want Asahina-san to find Kyon without her watching over.

"…You know, it really _does_ seem odd that Kyon didn't show up today. I hope he didn't get caught up in… the usual mess by himself." the boy said with his ever-present smile, attempting to start a conversation with Nagato.

Yuki, of course, did not reply.

The duo strolled from place to place relatively unbothered by other pedestrians, with Nagato putting the most effort in their "mission" as she seemed to literally scan around everywhere. 'Apparently she does not engage in anything half-heartedly.', thought her partner. 'It's either do or don't with her.'

The girl was in the middle of lifting a manhole when a thought occur to the lad. "Oh!"

Nagato Yuki turned towards him blankly.

"I just realized- if Kyon _was_ just running late, than one of us should have stayed at the meeting spot to wait-"

Koizumi was then interrupted himself as Yuki rushed past him, scurrying across the street to the other side. "Nagato-san? Nagato-san!" He did his best to catch up.

Slowing down, the humanoid interface stopped at the edge of a secluded alley between two old empty-looking buildings, and froze stiffly –stiff even for Yuki's standards. Frowning, Koizumi came right beside her side and stared curiously ahead, towards where she was looking…

And his eyes widened.

Leaning against the wall of the dark alley was a crumpled figure, his light blazer wrinkled and tattered, form static and broken, brown hair mussed and face bruised in several places…

It was Kyon, eyes closed and unmoving.

"…Kyo…K-KYON!" yelped Koizumi, breaking out of his stupor and rushing to the other boy. "How did this… Kyon! Speak to me! Are you-"

"No." came Nagato's voice from behind him. "He has not expired. However…"

The young man turned to her in surprise. She spoke in her usual monotone, but there was something unusual in her voice that had an unnerving effect on the boy. That, coupled with the daylight shining from behind her shadowed form, he… is Yuki… trembling?

Koizumi diverted his attention back to Kyon, shaking. Right. One at a time…

Checking for injuries was hard and tedious, as he did not want to accidentally worsen his condition with sudden shifts. Fortunately, Nagato moved in to aid him with the diagnosis, and claimed that there were no "Lasting and/or fatal damages to his physical being" after scanning the unconscious lad. ('Scan? Literally?') Getting out his mobile, Koizumi was about to punch the speed dial when the small girl put out a hand to halt him.

"Contacting the city's medical facility would be, although unlikely to garner excessive attention, unnecessarily detrimental as his condition is not critical. Also, carrying him to my building would be more time-efficient than calling for the local ambulance, as it is merely three minutes away."

He blinked. 'I don't think I've heard her say so much before…'

Nagato helped in lifting Kyon up (despite her height) and onto Koizumi's back. The two (and the limply hanging young man) then headed towards the apartment building with the girl leading the visibly shaken Esper.

* * *

'How did this happen?' mused the boy.

They arrived and managed to lay the unconscious Kyon down onto a futon in Yuki's room without hassle. Occasionally a few moans escaped his mouth, but he did not show signs of waking up anytime soon.

Koizumi rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. Just how _did_ this happen? Brief searching of his pockets showed that Kyon wasn't carrying anything of value, and the item that Haruhi "requested" wasn't anywhere to be found, neither on his person nor the alley. This meant that either Kyon was travelling _very_ light today, or…

'He's been mugged.' Koizumi let out a weak, hollow chuckle that sounded more like a sigh. Oh, sure, they had been prepared- the club's Esper made sure that the rather disagreeable factions of his organization weren't interfering with the current setup, Nagato checked for any potential paranormal threats especially after the trouble with Asakura (Not that they could tell, but it was the most logical step to take), and Asahina-san seemed to have been working behind the scene (which was done discretely. Koizumi barely stumbled upon it.) to prevent harmful disturbances in time-space. And yet…

'Mugged. Such a mundane, "normal", and terrible thing to befall on someone up to his neck in Aliens, Time Travelers, and Espers. We were so cautious not to get him killed, abducted, or erased, which has been successful so far- And yet we let him get maimed by a common thug…'

A waft of green tea alerted Koizumi to the other presence in the room, and he turned to find Nagato walking in with a tray of tea sets in hand. Settling down on Kyon's side after handing the other boy a steaming cup ("Thank you."), the girl leaned a bit and propped herself with her arms as she stared downwards at the slightly battered, pain-stricken face silently.

"Have you… contacted Suzumiya-san and Asahina-san?" asked Koizumi, taking a shaky sip and looking at Nagato's odd behaviour curiously.

Half a minute went by before she lifted her head a few inches. Eyeing him for a moment, she went back to staring at Kyon after replying with a short- "Try."

Quirking a brow for the second time that day he looked over to her clock. Haruhi should be expecting news from them by now, so why hadn't she given her a call already? Flipping his phone open, he called their club president…

And doubled back with a gasp. The ringing echoed in his ear eerily as the room started spinning, being invaded by swirls of psychedelic patterns that bled into his vision. Koizumi felt nauseated and he attempted to clutch onto the floor desperately, dropping the mobile……then it stopped as the phone clattered beside him. Breaking into cold sweat and hyperventilating, the confused lad turned towards Nagato…

"Drink." said the Humanoid interface without looking up.

He blinked, and looked over to his cup. When did she refill it? No, more importantly, what was that strange, sickening sensation that stopped him from…

The pieces clicked in his mind.

'Of course! This is Kyon- _our_ Kyon. The sarcastic one who always tries to keep Suzumiya-san from going too far! To be jumped and beaten by some mugger… well it's just not a probable outcome to her! No doubt she's stopping me, even if it's unconsciously.'

Koizumi then gave Nagato a resentful look. She _could_ have just told him!

Further thoughts on the matter lead him to conclude that this was probably for the best, as Haruhi, despite her usual treatment of Kyon, obviously had some feelings for the boy. Now, what would make a good cover story to feed-

A groan alerted the Esper that the lying young man was rousing awake. Eyes twitching and fluttering open, he hissed silently as he moved while Nagato poured a fresh cup beside him.

"Ah… Nagato…?" said Kyon, surprise evident in his tone as his eyes met hers. "And… oh, you're here, too."

Koizumi gave him a wry, tired smile. "Welcome back, Kyon."

O

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Here's that one shot I mentioned. If I get more ideas for it by the end of one of my other stories (Whenever that is!), then I might add some chapters and turn it into a series (Maybe).

Beta-read by Kildred, who did an awesome work at editing this.


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